Patent Application
20110313899
The invention relates to methods of presenting content to a viewer, for example, on an electronic display device. In particular, the invention relates to control over the timing of the presentation of the content.
Content, and text in particular, is usually presented in static fashion. That is, when a reader reads text and other content in hard-copy form, text and images do not change, and subtle nuances in the meaning of what is conveyed in the content must be expressed through the careful use of words and static images. Content provided to a viewer on a computer has the potential to overcome this constraint, but this capability is underutilized. A need exists to more fully utilize the capability of electronic media, so that dynamic content can be provided that transcends static limitations of expression.
According to an aspect of the invention, a method of tracking and governing content consumption includes creating a document file, for example, creation of a document file by a writer or author. Preferably, this content is associated in a single document with a pre-existing, largely unchanging program file that controls presentation of the new material to a viewer. The document file is a computer-readable file that includes content, which is primarily textual. At least one delimiter is inserted at a position of the textual portion of the document file, selected by the author, to define delimited content. The document file is provided to a viewer, who accesses the document file and consumes the associated content. A number of the delimiters passed by the viewer while consuming content can be tracked. A number of times an action key is struck by the viewer while consuming content can also be tracked.
The at least one delimiter can include a delimiter that allows at least one portion of the textual content to be displayed, and prevents the delimited content from being displayed automatically. For example, the delimiter can allow at least one portion of the textual content preceding the delimiter to be displayed, and prevent the delimited content following the delimiter from being displayed automatically.
Preferably, creating a document file does not include writing programming code.
Preferably, inserting the at least one delimiter does not include writing programming code.
The content can also include at least one object tag. The at least one object tag can include formatting tags, hyperlink tags, image source tags, sound source tags, video source tags, table tags, form tags, frame tags, style tags, div tags, class tags, embed tags, object elements, JavaScript, and/or Java applets.
Displaying the document file can include reading the document file using a network interface. For example, the network interface can be a Web browser.
The delimiter can allow the delimited content to be displayed only after a viewer performs a predetermined function. For example, the predetermined function can be movement of an action key, which can be an element of an input device in communication with a microprocessor device that is in communication with the electronic display device.
The delimited content can be additional textual content, which can include additional text. The additional text can include letters, symbols, spaces, numbers, words, sentences, paragraphs, pages, characters, and/or groups of characters. The additional content can include annotation content. Preferably, the additional content is a predetermined amount of textual material that supplements or replaces currently displayed textual material. For example, the additional content can be a new page of textual material. Preferably, the electronic display device defines a size of a page of textual material. The electronic display device can be a dedicated text reader.
The at least one delimiter can include a delimiter that prevents the additional content from being displayed before a viewer moves an action key, and allows the additional content to be displayed after the viewer moves the action key. Alternatively, the at least one delimiter can include a delimiter that prevents annotation content from being displayed before a viewer moves an action key, and allows the annotation content to be displayed after the viewer moves the action key. The action key can be an element of an input device in communication with a microprocessor device that is in communication with the electronic display device.
The delimited content can include pages of text, paragraphs of text, sentences, words, characters, and/or groups of characters.
The document file can be a plaintext file, an HTML file, or an XHTML file.
The method can also include associating the tracked number of delimiters passed by the viewer while consuming content with a monetary charge. A total monetary charge can be increased each time a delimiter is passed by the viewer while consuming content. The viewer can be notified each time a delimiter is passed. A display can be provided to the user showing the total monetary charge.
According to another aspect of the invention, an integrated device includes a storage medium, a microprocessor device, and an electronic display device. The storage medium includes instructions in a document file that can be implemented by the microprocessor device to cause a document to be displayed on the electronic display device according to instructions included in a program file. The instructions in the document file include:
Allowing the author to insert at least one delimiter can include allowing the author to add delimiting text.
Allowing an author to create a document file can include allowing an author to create a document file according to a standard application program. For example, the standard application program can be a word processing program.
Preferably, allowing an author to create a document file does not include requiring the author to write programming code.
Preferably, allowing the author to insert at least one delimiter does not include requiring the author to write programming code.
Allowing a viewer to access the document file can include allowing at least one portion of the content to be displayed, and preventing the delimited content from being displayed automatically.
Allowing a viewer to access the document file further can include allowing the delimited content to be displayed only after the viewer performs a predetermined function. The integrated device can also include an action key in communication with the microprocessor device, and the predetermined function can be movement of the action key.
The delimited content can include delimited text. The integrated delimited text can include pages of text; paragraphs of text, sentences, words, characters, and/or groups of characters.
The delimited content can be additional textual content, such as additional text, which can include letters, symbols, spaces, numbers, words, sentences, paragraphs, characters, and/or groups of characters.
The additional content can include annotation content.
The additional content can be a predetermined amount of textual material that supplements or replaces currently displayed textual material. For example, the additional content can be a new sentence or paragraph, or a new page, of textual material. Preferably, the electronic display device defines a size of a page of textual material. The electronic display device can be, for example, a dedicated text reader.
The at least one delimiter can include a delimiter that prevents the additional content from being displayed before a viewer moves an action key, and allows the additional content to be displayed after the viewer moves the action key. Alternatively, the at least one delimiter can include a delimiter that prevents annotation content from being displayed before a viewer moves an action key, and allows the annotation content to be displayed after the viewer moves the action key. The action key can be an element of an input device in communication with a microprocessor device that in communication with the electronic display device.
The delimited text can include pages of text, paragraphs of text, sentences, words, characters, and/or groups of characters.
The document file can be a plaintext file, an HTML file, or an XHTML file.
The instructions can also include associating the tracked number of delimiters passed by the viewer while consuming content with a monetary charge. The instructions can also include increasing a total monetary charge each time a delimiter is passed by the viewer while consuming content, and notifying the viewer each time a delimiter is passed. The instructions can also include providing a display to the user showing the total monetary charge.
Thus, the delimited content can be additional textual content, which can include additional text. Preferably, the additional content is a predetermined amount of textual material that supplements or replaces currently displayed textual material. For example, the additional content can be a new page of textual material that appears in a colored box beside the original text. The location of such a colored textual box can be determined through utilization of cascading style sheets by the author, the CSS to be imbedded in the program file. Alternately, an original page of text may be replaced by a new page that is identical to the original page except in formatting of certain words, in ways including color, bolding, italicization, text-size, and highlighting, for example. New textural material may also represent the simple continuation of a sentence or paragraph, or addition of one or more paragraphs, concealed from the viewer before the delimiter has been read by the microprocessor device according to instructions contained within the program file.
The present invention provides a way for presenting text characters and other content to a viewer, such as a computer user, in predetermined groups, which can be temporally sequenced, according to the depression of one or more predetermined control or action keys or automatically as specified by the author of the content that is being viewed. For example, according to the invention, words, letters, numerals, symbols, blocks of color, digital photographs, graphical images, movies, sound, any other visual and/or audio binary file, forms or interactive forms, and Web pages can be presented on a viewer's display one at a time, or according to any other grouping intended by the author, either in an automatic timed sequence or as controlled by the reader using the action key, as these elements of the document file, and/or delimiters in the document file, are sequentially read by the microprocessor device according to instructions contained in the program file. A single action key will be referred to herein, but the invention is not contemplated necessarily to be limited to a single action key, and more than one key can be designated as action keys if desired.
Thus, according to a particular embodiment of the invention, series of these elements can be presented sequentially to the viewer, wherein the sequencing of the elements is predetermined by the author at the time of authoring the text, and the viewing of the sequence can be controlled by the viewer according to the depression of the action key. For example, certain intermittent interruptions of presentation of the text caused by the authoring process can be ended by the viewer's pressing an action key, such as the Enter key, which will be used herein as a non-limiting example of an action key that can be used according to the method of the invention. Other features, such as pauses in the presentation of the text for any length of time in increments of, for example, tenths of seconds, can be authored into the text so as to affect the viewer's interpretation of what is written in ways that static text cannot provide.
To implement the method of the invention, text is written by an author/programmer so as to be read by a reader's computer, or other microprocessor device, as computer code. This code can be, for example, similar to or no different than ordinary HTML code, yet the method of the invention provides several advantages. The code includes delimiters that the author can use when writing/coding that will halt or pause presentation of text to the viewer at whichever point(s) the author chooses. Thus, for example, words or any grouping of text can be presented a letter at a time with a predetermined delay between individual letters, or a paragraph can be hidden for a predetermined interval before the reader can see it. Alternatively, the paragraph's presentation can be withheld entirely until the action key is depressed. These delimiters can be combined. So, for example, words or any grouping of text can be hidden until the reader has pressed an action key and a further delay predetermined by the author has elapsed.
In a preferred embodiment, the text or other content is authored such that text, or the ordinary language of HTML or XHTML or another compatible language for the Web, is augmented with new time-specific delimiters. The text is coded by the author in “strings” that include the delimiters, wherein each string presents a new screen of text. For example, a string can begin with
The sequential presentation of text can also be used to change the format of the text that the reader is reading. For example, the author can author two successive strings of text that vary only in a particular detail, such as encoding to change the color of a word, or to bold, underline, italicize, or alter the font-size text for emphasis. When the reader strikes the action key, all he will see is the change or changes in the selected word, while the remainder of the screen appears to remain the same.
Annotations can also be made to appear and go away at the stroke of the action key. For example, these notes can appear in indented and highlighted boxes, or in any other format of the author's choosing. Highlighting or other emphasis of text can also come and go, timed to change automatically according to the author's specification or on depression of the action key by the viewer.
HTML documents can be made to appear as “pages” that appear on the viewer's screen, one by one, in a timed sequence or at the control of the viewer. For pages to appear in an automatic timed sequence, at the end of each string that makes up a page or one of a set of pages, a delay delimiter can be inserted. For example,
An exemplary general process of the invention is shown in
The document file need not only include text, and instead can be a multimedia file including still and moving images and sound as content, any portion of which can be delimited. Further, HTML files and XHTML files can be document files that are authored according to the invention, and any section of such a document can be delimited for timed presentation to a viewer.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As discussed previously, the timed presentation of the content to the viewer can include format changes to the content, such as presenting text in a first format and then in a second format, either automatically or after viewer action. These and other content changes can be effectuated through the use of a sequence of strings to replace displayed content with replacement content. Content can be authored as a sequence of strings, so advancing through the sequence, either automatically or after viewer action, can cause the replacement of content as each new string is read.
As shown in
Thus, the authoring process includes creating content and delimiting it so that the timed presentation of the document is controlled, either automatically or by the viewer, or both. The capability to author a document in this manner can be provided by any word processing program This document, now in the sense of a “document file,” can be stored on a medium, such as a portable memory device or a hard drive internal to a computer, or as instructions resident temporarily in RAM. The stored instructions can be implemented by a microprocessor device in conjunction with a program file, either combined with the document file or stored separately, to cause a document to be displayed on an electronic device, as generally shown in
It is also contemplated that the invention can be embodied as an integrated device that includes the storage medium described above, as well as a microprocessor device and an electronic display device, as shown in
Other embodiments of the invention can provide additional features. For example, a sequence of strings can be written in such a way as to cause a table of contents to appear after a number of strings has been viewed, which table of contents will be hyperlinked so the process can resume in the hyperlinked document. With or without hyperlinks, an ensuing document can be indefinitely long and will resemble a magazine, newspaper, or book, with any number of pages and any number of articles or chapters. “Chapter jump forward,” “chapter jump back,” and “jump screen behind” features, or other non-sequential access features, can also be provided through the use of one or more additional delimiters. Tables of contents can comprise simple hyperlinked lists, or they can be geometrically more complex shapes, including graphics, digital photographs, and text, created, for example, using HTML's “table” or its Cascading Style Sheets “DIV” functions, preferably hyperlinked. “Advertisement blocks,” possibly hyperlinked to Web pages and possibly authored according to the method of this invention, can also appear on table of contents pages, or anywhere else in the document, including between pages of otherwise-continuous narrative text.
Thus, depending on how the delimiters are used when the document is authored, pages can turn automatically for the reader, with words appearing on, remaining on, and disappearing from the display before the page turns again. Through the thoughtful use of delimiters, any object of text of any size can be designated for such timed presentation, where “object” herein is meant to mean any desired subset of content. For example, poetry can be advantageously displayed as the author prefers that the reader should see it. Words or even portions of words or individual letters, phrases, lines, and stanzas can appear automatically after a suitable delay, giving the reader enough time to read that passage but also allowing the author to provide emphasis by varying the delay for different passages. Alternatively, passages can be presented to the reader one at a time as fixed screens that sequence as the reader depresses the action key. Likewise, passages can be made to disappear as the reader depresses the action key or automatically after a set period of time, or through a combination of both. In the same manner, blocks of color, formatted text, digital photographs, graphics, sound, and so forth, can be used to present a form of artwork to the reader, in a way that appears as a slideshow or even as animation. In the case of animation, a sequence of strings can be authored wherein the text differs between strings, and the strings contain no delimiter except possibly “delay” delimiters, preferably at the end of the strings. In such animation, successive strings can vary minimally, for example only in the formatting or color of previously-existing text, or they can vary substantially, through the addition and/or withdrawal of elements.
Other embodiments of the invention can relate to the tracking of content consumed by the viewer, and to charging a fee for content consumed by a viewer. For example, when an action key is depressed by the viewer as described above or when a “page back” key is pressed, an incremental charge can be incurred, to be debited from a pre-paid account or to be charged at a later time. This charge can be incurred in response to every depression of the action key, forward or backward, or per a pre-determined multiple number of depressions, or according to any scheme devised by the author and implemented as a revision in the program file. If desired, charges can increment as the viewer moves forward through the document, irrespective of action-key depression, depending for example on the reader's passing the end of strings or passing “delay” delimiters.
Alternatively, a special delimiter can be added to the textual content such that “passing” the delimiter by the viewer automatically results in an incremental charge. Such a delimiter might be, for example, “space-space-vertical pipe-number-space,” where the number is variable and indicates the fee assessed in tenths of a dollar. A “mirror” delimiter, such as “space-number-vertical pipe-space-space”, can be added to determine if the viewer has passed certain points in the backward direction, and to increment the charge to the viewer for each passed delimiter.
Using these or similar methods can provide an author with a way to monitor any key depressions and/or forward or backward progression through content, and consumption of content in selectable portions, such as words, paragraphs, pages, etc. This consumption can be tracked and counted, and the viewer can be charged correspondingly.
The content as seen by the viewer can include an indication of the incurred charges, preferably at the reader's option. For example, a small window or other display region can be provided, in which is shown the total charges incurred by the viewer. This display region can also warn the viewer when a charge delimiter has been reached and can provide an indication, such as an audible indication, to the viewer whenever the total amount will be incremented upon the viewer's pressing the action key.
Off-line viewing can also be permitted, with content consumption and associated charges determined when the viewer next logs on to the content-provider's Web site. Because delimiters can be used as described above to limit the viewer's consumption of content without performing acts that can be detected, consumption can be limited by a viewer to remain within a preferred tolerance.
As another feature, through three simple key entries “reversing” the page-advance and page-back key-codes in the program, articles are runnable backwards—to the effect that upon a book's being opened, it will proceed automatically from bottom to top (the strings have to be reversed in sequence). Then when the book or other content is read, all the page changes are absolutely instantaneous. When going forward, or “forward,” through such a document, readers will not see “delay” or “halt” delimiters. However, yet other “mirror” delimiters can be introduced so that the delays would be apparent.
Two different exemplary implementations of the method are described below, one simple and the other more complex. In the simpler version, the text of the document file will always run at full screen, with no specific accommodation made for the presentation of large files, including digital photographs, graphics, movies, or sound, for instance. Therefore, if an author using this implementation wants to present large tiles, the viewer will have to wait while these files download, unless the viewer chooses to advance the page without having seen them. In this simpler version of the invention, each document will comprise a single document file, within which the author's text is inserted appropriately as a series of strings. Therefore, both content and delimiters will be received as a single variable document file on the reader's computer, which document file can be embedded within a substantially invariant, largely pre-coded program file.
In a more complex implementation, once a document is selected by a viewer, as for example by hyperlinking from a table of contents or double-clicking on a file in a storage medium, any large files associated with it, for example, digital photographs, graphics, sound files, and the like, will automatically and in sequence begin to download onto the reader's computer. Thus, by the time the reader reaches the points where these large files would appear, they will more likely have downloaded onto his computer, to be fully available immediately when they are reached by the reader. This provides great advantages for rendering digital photographs, graphics, sound, and the like, within the context of an article, but moreover it permits advertisements to be rendered in any position in an article, with little fanfare.
The more complex implementation will allow advertising to be presented because, for example, an initial “index.html” document can be a “frameset” document that will divide the screen into frames, some of which can include textual advertisements, which will in turn link to hyperlinked pages, which are sites stored on servers preferably by the advertisers themselves and available via the Internet or other network, or locally-stored documents written according to this method or any other. In this case, “index.html” can open in such a way that the main frame will be “targeted” automatically so pages in this main frame automatically “turn” when the action key is depressed, while advertising frames remain static.
Advertisements in the side frames can run sequentially, randomly, or according to some other automatic scheme, being delivered from a central server and changing after an action key has been pressed by the viewer while he is reading the main frame, or after hyperlinks to advertisements, articles, essays, and chapters that are listed in the table of contents have been selected by the viewer and he has ceased to view the main frame at least temporarily.
As another alternative, a document can be written according to this method without frames, with all documents presented in full frame.
In this case, “index.html” can open at full frame without advertisements, and advertisements in side boxes not be displayed until a certain string has been reached by the viewer wherein the advertising side boxes are coded for. The advertising side boxes can be summoned in a like way as the annotation content described above. They can be formatted according to CSS designations. Alternately, they can appear following any ordinary section of text without formatting. Preferably, the advertising side boxes can appear after presentation of content was stopped by a “halt” delimiter, when the viewer presses the action key.
The index.html, tableofcontents.html, and initial advertisement files can be very small (for example, on the order of 20 kB, together), since they can be textual, so they should download quickly regardless of the type of'network connection. However, in the complex implementation, linked advertising files can be quite large and the reader still should not notice these files downloading, because at the time he will be reading initial portions of the article. It is contemplated that the large files will be accessed via the Internet, via a private intranet, or over any network on which the linked server is available to provide the requested page.
Similarly, if the “table” or CSS “DIV” methods of HTML are used to present advertisements rather than the “frames” method, irregular “advertisement blocks” can appear on a table of contents page, which, likewise, might continuously change upon a reader's hyperlinking to an article, the advertisement blocks will not be confined to a frame or a gutter.
Preferably, the advertisements initially present in any of these advertisement blocks or boxes will be purely textual documents, as this will enhance the speed of downloading once the reader reaches the pertinent portion of the document file and they are summoned.
Thus, according to the invention, the author of a document can control the manner in which it is displayed to a reader. Text can be timed to display and change automatically over time according to the author's specifications, or can be advanced only on the depression of one or more action keys, so that portions of the text can be rationed to the reader to suit the author's purpose.
The present invention includes the method as described above. Within the scope of the invention, the method can be implemented as a computer program, which can run on a computer or any device having a processor. The program can be loaded onto the computer directly, or can be implemented over the Internet or any other network. The invention can also be embodied as a storage medium on which is stored instructions that can be interpreted by a processor to cause a computer or other device to perform actions according to the described method, as described above.
The invention can also be embodied as a computer or other device on which the method is performed. For example, a general-purpose computer set up to author text as described herein, or set up on a network or as a stand-alone device and receiving documents authored according to the invention, are both contemplated as falling within the scope of the invention. Further, a special-purpose device dedicated to reading documents authored according to the invention is also contemplated. For example, a document file can be stored on a portable medium that can be loaded onto and read by such a special-purpose device, or document files can be downloaded onto the device via a network or directly from another computer or device. Such a special-purpose “reader” will preferably be portable and will present documents to a viewer. Such a device can be functionally simple, including a display, a single action key, and a pointing device that can move a cursor to navigate the table of contents of a document being read. For example, a portable console having a suitable display can be provided with a touchpad pointing device and a single button, advantageously located for manipulation by a reader. The button can be used as the action key to move a document forward, and in combination with the touch pad can be used to navigate a table of contents. For example, a portable console having a suitable display can be provided on its rear surface with a touchpad pointing device and a single button, advantageously located for manipulation use by the reader as the action key. Lateral movements made with the index finger of one hand on the touchpad device can be translated by the device into vertical movements through the table of contents.
It is also contemplated that more than one action key can be specified, or provided on a dedicated device. For example, the left-arrow key on a typical keyboard can be designated to be used by the viewer to drive the presentation backwards. For example, using this key, a bit of “automatic text” can be viewed more than once. Likewise, the right-arrow key on a typical keyboard can be designated to be used by the viewer to return the document to the point where the viewer had left off, regardless of how many times the left-arrow key and/or the Enter (action) key had been used in the intervening time. Up-arrow and down-arrow keys can be used by the reader to navigate a page longer than a single screen. If a special-purpose device is created dedicated to reading documents authored according to the invention, right-arrow, up-arrow, and down-arrow keys may be added to the rear surface for use by the reader. Alternately, all four keys may be placed on the front of the device, or the screen itself may be utilized as a sensitive touch device, preferably without visual designation of the specific areas of sensitivity.
An additional feature can allow the viewer to interrupt the intended flow of the document. As stated previously, the invention permits any number of screens to unfold automatically on a viewer's display until a “halt” delimiter is reached. There likely will be times when a viewer will want to stop the automatic presentation of text if multiple strings have been coded in succession by an author without a single “halt” delimiter. An additional key can be designated as the interrupt key, by which the viewer can stop the program while it is automatically being presented. In a dedicated device or “reader,” this function can be implemented in a central fifth key or central area on a touch-sensitive display screen.
When viewing a document authored according to the invention, a viewer can advance through a multi-page document effortlessly, without waiting for a link to download. Further, when strings are utilized in the authoring process, the viewer can see content such as text change colors or be highlighted, at the touch of a button, and text can easily be annotated or added to on the present page. Text can be presented automatically, or this and a semi-automatic approach can be combined.
Thus, it is apparent that the invention provides a number of advantages over static text as it is presented in printed books and magazines and in “eBooks.”
Furthermore, whereas eBooks and multipage commercial word-processor documents such as those generated in Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Adobe Acrobat, necessitate transmission by fast-speed Internet connections because of large file sizes, moderately long articles authored according to this method, if they employ only text, can have file-sizes of only a few tens of kilobytes, allowing long articles or even books to be swiftly downloaded where users are limited to a slow dial-up connection.
With reference to
1. Initialization. The Following Occurs Before Complete Page Loading:
Particular exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail. These exemplary embodiments are illustrative of the inventive concept recited in the appended claims, and are not limiting of the scope or spirit of the invention as contemplated by the inventor.
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/620,512, which was filed on Jan. 5, 2007, and which in turn is related to, and claims the benefit under 35 USC §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application for Patent No. 60/756,467, which was filed on Jan. 5, 2006, and U.S. Provisional Application for Patent No. 60/758,447, which was filed on Jan. 12, 2006.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60756467 | Jan 2006 | US | |
| 60758447 | Jan 2006 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11620512 | Jan 2007 | US |
| Child | 12965421 | US |
